The senat jabs out with his longsword. I move my head slightly to the left, barely slipping by the blade and aiming for a slash with my own. I miss, but mid-motion, I rotate into a side kick. My foot slams into the senat's side. His body folds in on itself, and he slides away. Still, he holds his ground. A faint blue aura slowly manifests around him, like heat waves. The same aura that appeared the last time we fought.
"Where's all that ferocity you had a second ago?" He chuckles. "I know it's in you, White Knight. We all know. About what happened, what you did that night."
The senat springs forward, faster than my eyes can track. I instinctively throw my shield up. His longsword digs into my right shoulder. I feel a snap in my arm and am sent flying into the stands. I climb back to my feet. Blood pours from a newly opened wound in my arm. I steady myself, gripping my sword with both hands.
The senat stares at me with a smile on his face, unmoving. He seems so sure of himself, of victory, but the bruise on his side tells another story. I get a running start and thrust my sword towards his abdomen. He parries perfectly with his own, and as I withdraw my blade to a defensive position, he comes down on my left collarbone. The blade sinks in deep, and my whole body explodes with pain when he yanks it back out.
I stab at his head, but it's as if he flashes out of reality. I feel his sword carve into my right side and am flung from the stands back into the Coliseum. My back crashes into the ground, pain shooting up and down my spine. I feel myself sliding across the sand, my body rolling over on top of itself until I slam into something. Now, looking down on me is Ironvine.
"Can you stand?" He asks calmly, his body glowing in a similar faint aura as the senat's, but green instead of blue.
"I can try. What's happening?" I answer, strength flowing back into my body. This doesn't make sense. I don't have nearly enough energy left to heal myself.
"It's Celestria. She has healed you this day." Ironvine helps me to my feet, his expression cold.
"No way!" The senat leaps down from the stands, sand exploding in a cloud around him. "You killed Fraken? I thought that geezer would never die. Blackthorn'll be pissed when he hears this."
"Blackthorn?" I ask, surprised to hear that bastard's name again.
"Oh, oh, right. You guys don't know about that." The senat smirks. "Forget I even mentioned it."
"Ren." I feel Ironvine place his hand on my shoulder. "I'm about to give you some of Celestria's power."
I feel a sudden surge of energy fill my body, even more than when I woke up this morning. I smile at Ironvine and nod at him. I'm sure I can win now. I already feel my wounds closing.
"If you've got things handled here, I'm going to try to help beat that Vanhiel guy." Ironvine says, turning away from me and to the intense battle now unfolding in the sky.
"I wouldn't do that. He's stronger than all of you combined." The senat raises his eyebrows at Ironvine. "And after what we've got planned, he'll have enough power to even rival King Hawk."
"If you say so." Ironvine leaps onto the coliseum wall behind me and up into the air.
"Your friend is going to die, you know that, right?" The senat smirks. "Oh, but you're pretty good at letting people die, aren't you?"
"You talk too much." I say, allowing my rage to consume me one last time.
I have to end this guy quickly, before he can try to fight back. My bloodlust skyrockets, my vision sharpens, and everything fades to red. My body lurches forward. I can barely perceive my motions.
I smell the senat's blood as my sword carves an X across his chest. I feel the shift in the sand vibrations when he jumps back, but his blood is already in my hands.
He swings his longsword at me, fear pouring out of his every motion. He doesn't even realize I'm behind him. I force his blood to form into two daggers, which I slam into his back. I slide backwards and force the blood pouring out to form a giant javelin.
"Get-get away from me!" He screams.
I don't. I drive the javelin deep into his stomach and kick him in the jaw. I did it. I beat him. I finally won. My vision begins to return. My heightened senses are fading rapidly along with my adrenaline.
The senat has a massive, bloody X carved into his chest. Two blood daggers stick out of his back, along with a giant crimson javelin stuck in his stomach. The weapons splash onto the ground, deforming into pools of blood. The senat is still standing, however, despite his intense injuries.
"Blah-" Blood pours from his mouth. "-ha. Ha. That's more like it. That's the White Knight I've heard so much about."
I can't move. My whole body feels numb. Dammit, I think, I overdid it. The senat dashes, and I feel the cold steel plunge into my gut. He grins the whole time.
I stumble backwards, but every time I take a step, the senat pushes in a bit further. I try to swing my sword at him, but I can't find the strength to lift my arm.
"A scar… " The senat rips his sword out of my stomach and slashes me twice across the chest, forming an X. "... for a scar."
Then he collapses. Blood puddles underneath him. A burning sensation fills my body. I can't stand the pain anymore and fall next to him. This is it. I don't have enough energy to heal. My eyes search the coliseum, landing on Whisperclaw. She's fighting against a senat woman and a large panther. My mind drifts back to the day I met her. The day I was sentenced to death. Her words still echo in my mind.
"You want to die? In that case, why don't you die for me?" She asked, reaching out her hand to me. "That way, we both have something to live for."
I can't die, not yet, not while she still needs help. I rise to my feet slowly, pain coursing through my body with every motion. I stumble over to the senat before collapsing again. I've never drunk blood before, but I'm about to try. I bite into the senat's flesh and drink. I drink until I am full.
After a while, I feel all of my strength returning. I also feel something else. Something I've never felt before. I relive memories that are not mine, memories of a young boy with gray skin. A senat with no horns. I recall flashes of the boy's life, first living on the streets, struggling to survive, then being taken in by a senat woman. Next, I see him as a young man fighting against others, all around his age. He killed them all. Then I see him being branded with a wind tattoo on his neck by King Hawk. When the visions stop, all I see around me is darkness. Through the darkness, the senat man faces me. He sits cross-legged, hovering above the void.
"Man, you were strong." He laughs. "I got in a few good hits, though."
"What is this?" I ask, unsure what else to do.
"Isn't that obvious?" He scratches his bald head. "Argh! This sucks… but... at least I didn't get killed by someone weak. That would have been even worse, y'know?"
I say nothing. How am I supposed to react? I've never even been in this situation.
"Hey…" The senat rises to his feet and turns away from me. "I don't think you'll beat him, but if you do... tell Vanhiel I said I'm sorry I wasn't strong enough... and… if you ever meet her... tell the old lady not to worry too much."
"Hey!" I yell before he disappears into the distance.
"Hmm?" He turns slightly.
"I think…" I don't even know why I'm saying this. "... I think you were really strong."
He looks back at me and smirks. Then he walks away, throwing a hand up as he disappears into the horizon.
"See you around, White Knight. You've got a lot of tower left to climb, so don't die too fast."